Marois has been minority premier since September 2012. Polls indicate she could win a majority on April 7.

The bulk of the spotlight since she took office has been on the Quebec Charter of Values.

While the “excuse me, sorry, oh so polite” manners of English Canada were shocked by this, it’s popular in Quebec.

A January Leger Marketing poll shows 48% of Quebecers support the charter.

Broken into language category, 57% of francophones support it.

In other words, this election will not be about, say, fiscal issues.

A shame. Right now Quebec has the highest debt per capita of all the provinces.

No, it will be a culture war. And Marois is an old warrior.

She was first a cabinet minister at the age of 32 in Rene Levesque’s government. She’s now twice that age.

She’s held more than a dozen cabinet posts over the years and was deputy premier and finance minister under Bernard Landry’s government a decade ago.

But time is running out for Marois to accomplish her party's goal of a sovereign Quebec.

She's said that a referendum is not the driving issue... right now.

Then when? This might be the last shot for her generation to give it the old college try.

Here is what Quebecers will be asked in April:

Do they want to join the rest of us in working to build a prosperous economy for all?

Or do they want to be caught up in petty antics – like sending in language officers to tell restaurant entrepreneurs that they have to cover up the English lettering on water valves in the kitchen (this really happened!) – all while their economy remains so-so, a part of the population feels alienated, and they remain reliant on equalization payments to maintain their lifestyle?

Montreal’s no longer the business powerhouse it once was. Right now it’s probably not the best place to start a business.

But Marois is also putting a question to the rest of Canada: Will you indulge me in my antics?

It used to be that we ran to Quebec and tried to work things out.

But since the 1995 referendum things have changed. Canadians regularly interact with other cultures and languages that have become well established in Canada.

It’s certainly been a challenge and will continue to be one. But we’ve been making it work – one example is how the Conservatives have been honing our immigration laws.

We need immigrants in Canada - the numbers show that's a fact - we just need to make sure we admit the right ones and make it clear what we expect of them.

So Quebec’s inability to get along with both the targets of their charter and the rest of Canada strikes Gen X and the Millennials as so last century.

Canadians should not have any patience for Pauline Marois stoking some return to a national unity debate.

But the solution is not to play hardball with the last roar of baby boom separatists.

The solution is to not play ball with them at all. Treat it like the yawn it is.

The next premier of Quebec should focus on balancing the budget and providing opportunity for all those Canadians who live in Quebec.

About the author

Other Stories

Since 1980 the average cost overruns for the summer Olympics have been 252%. It's one of the more alarming facts Andrew Zimbalist has to share with Canadians and taxpayers across the country thinking over whether Toronto should bid for the 2024 summer Olympics.